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While a compact hybrid vehicle is excellent in term of gasoline efficiency, its relatively low horse power and slow acceleration may not satisfy drivers who are performance oriented. There are many exotic sport vehicles available in the market such as the BMW M series, the Chevrolet Corvette, and the Porsche 911 Turbo that can easily satisfy the needs for speed; however, they are very costly to buy and to maintain. If you looking for a car with good performance and don’t want to spend more than $50,000 at the dealership, I have a suggestion: the Volkswagen GTI.

The Volkswagen GTI is the high performance version of the Volkswagen Golf hatchback, so the vehicle’s body and interior layout are almost identical. The GTI available in two-door and four-door for both Base and Autobahn trim levels. The 2012 GTI Base model is equipped with many convenient features, which some of them are listed as below:

18-inch alloy wheels

a rear roof spoiler and sport suspension

standard fog light

heated front sport seats and heated outside mirror

cruise control and a trip computer

air-conditioning

an eight-speaker sound system with CD player, satellite radio, auxiliary audio jack and USB connection for device such as the iPod.

Some of those features are usually not available in the comparably competitor model with the similar MSRP.

The 2012 Volkswagen GTI is only available in a 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive and it is equipped with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 cylinders, 16-Valve engine that generates up to 200 hp and 207 pounds of torque. It can accelerates from zero to 60 mph in about 7.3 seconds, which is just about one second difference compares to some of the BMW 5-series models.

Vehicles with high performance usually come with full standard safety equipments and the 2012 GTI is of no exception. The GTI includes antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front-seat airbags and full side curtain airbags. While the equipments help minimize the chance of injury during an accident, helping the driver to avoid accident is just as important. According the Edmunds.com, a vehicle review website, the 2012 GTI can braking from 60 to zero mph in 129 feet to avoid front-rear collision.

The Volkswagen GTI is surprising roomy compares to other sporty hatchback vehicle and getting in and out of the vehicle is relatively painless in both two-door and four-door style. Behind the rear seat, the cargo space is about 12.4 cubic feet and up to 46 cubic feet with the rear seat fold down. The same stat also applies to the Volkswagen Golf and Rabbit models, so car shoppers who do not want to drive a manual transmission vehicle have the options for the alternatives.

Even though the Volkswagen GTI is considered a high performance vehicle, it doesn’t suck up gasoline like the other exotic sport cars. The gasoline efficiency of the GTI is about 21 mpg for city local and up to 31 mpg for highway. A partial-zero-emission-vehicle (PZEV) model is available GTI, which makes it relatively more environmental friendly.

The MSRP for the 2012 Volkswagen GTI base model is $24,595 plus tax and fees. When breaking down the cost of fuel, insurance, maintenance, financing, and depreciation, the estimated cost of ownership over a 5-year period is about $35,545 plus the price of the vehicle.

Overall, the Volkswagen GTI may not be the fastest among competitors when compares with number and stats; however, the GTI gets very good rating for comfort and solid ride quality. At highway speed, the cabin can be as quite as some of the other luxury vehicle, so drivers will not suffer from the rumbling and they can enjoy the music and radio while driving. So if you want to satisfy your needs for speed without the rough ride, Volkswagen GTI will be the best answer.